Color Words vs. Non-Color Words

Try it yourself!

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/words.html

Broad Question

Does using different words effect the Stroop Effect?

Specific Question

Out of ten random non-color words with different ink colors and ten random color words with different ink colors, which will take the longest to answer accurately?

Variables

Independent Variable:

Random words.

Dependent Variable:

Time taken to answer accurately. (sec)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Having the same people and having the same location.

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that it will take longer to answer the color words rather than the non-color words.

Graph of Hypothesis

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http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2009/02/a_special_case_of_the_stroop_e.php

Materials List

1. Clipboard
2. 10 people
3. Index cards with non color words
4. Index cards with color words
5. Timer
6. Digital Camera
7. Pencil
8. Chair
9. Room to complete experiment

Detailed Procedure

1. Gather materials.
2. Gather people.
3. Go into room I will be using.
4. Have the first person sit down in a chair facing me.
5. Have the person being tested with the non-color index cards and the person timing both start the experiment at the same time.
6. Take pictures of the person being tested while they’re being tested.
7. When the person has finished the timer will be stop and the data will be recorded on to the data spreadsheet.
8. Repeat steps 4-6 with different people until all have been tested.
9. After all of the first trials are done, begin with the second trial.
10. Have a person sit in a chair facing me.
11. Have the person being tested with the color index cards and the person timing both start the experiment at the same time.
12. Take pictures of the person being tested while they’re being tested.
13. Once the person has finished the timer will be stopped and the data will be recorded onto the data spreadsheet.
14. Repeat steps 9-11 for the rest of the people.
15. Input data onto the digital spreadsheet.
16. Upload pictures to computer.

Experimental Design

I will Conduct my experiment at lunch time and at the end of the day. I will need ten people to do the experiment and two people to help conduct the experiment. The ten people will be the ones that are reading the ink colors off of the index cards. The two other people I will need will hold the cards and the other person will time the people being tested. I will complete two trials per person, one for them to answer the non color index cards and the other trial for them to answer the colored index cards. As I conduct my experiment we will use a printed out data sheet to record the data. Also, as I conduct my experiment I will take photos. I will take a picture of each person while they are are doing the experiment.


http://kybele.psych.cornell.edu/~edelman/Psych-4320/week-2.html

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Background Research

The left optic tract carries signals to the left side of each eye’s retina while the right optic tract handles signals from the right side of each retina. This is what’s happening when the stroop effect is being tested and most likely this process is slowed down because of the things you have to process through your mind.

Stroop Effect named after J. Ridley Stroop. He named it after himself. Other activities to try with the Stroop effect is using nonsense words such as "kiw" or "thoz." compare long words to short words, and color only half of the word or color only the first and last letter of each word.

How to do the project. In
dex cards with different word colors and different non color words. Test each person several times to ensure accurate measures and keep them focused. When testing have them read the ink color for the non color words and the colored words, make sure they answer correctly before you move on to the next word.


It could have an effect with different age groups. The gender could be a possible way to interfere and how focused the person is matters as well.

References

B, Bower. "Interference: Stroop Effect." The Stroop Effect. N.p., 2012. Web. 1 Jan. <http://www.apa.org/science/resources/stroop.aspx>.

Chudler, Eric H. "Colors, Colors." Neuroscience For Kids. n.p., 19996-2010. Web. 19 Jan. <http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/words.html>.


Macaulay, David. The way we work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. Print.

Olson, Andrew. "Warped Words and Stroop Effect." Science Buddies. N.p., 2002-2012. Web. 1 Jan. <http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/HumBeh_p029.shtml?fave=no&isb=cmlkOjEzNDc2NzkwLHNpZDowLHA6MixpYTpIdW1CZWg&from=TSW>.

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Results

Data Table

Graph

Photos

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Data Analysis

Conclusion

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine if the stroop used in different ways takes longer to read. The results of my experiment were that the color words took longer to read the ink color than the non-color words. The average for the non-color words was 8.72 seconds and the average for the color words was 9.54 seconds. Each of type was tested ten times. An average was calculated to get the final results.

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Discussion

My hypothesis was: I hypothesize that it will take longer to answer the color words rather than the non-color words. My results do support my hypothesis. The non-color words took an average of 8.72 seconds and the color word took an average of 9.54 seconds. There are some patterns in the data that I received. Some patterns and trends in the data is that it, almost every time took the person longer to read the color words instead of the non-color words. Another pattern I saw was that each trial within a category did not range very far from each other. They were all pretty close. I think the tests I did went smoothly. I had all of the materials I needed, enough people, and everything went as planned. I got all the data I needed and nothing went wrong. If I could improve my experiment I would have taken more pictures and I would have done more trials of each category. An interesting future study might involve studying further into why the brain does what it does when the stroop effect is happening to them. I would be fun and I would probably enjoy it.

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